I'll start with a bit of a rant about Premium:LinkedIn Premium does not really help with job hunting, so don't be fooled into thinking that seeing a few metrics and knowing a little more about the competition will make much of a difference. Even the info regarding number of applicants isn't accurate, because it only takes into account those that have applied through LinkedIn. Having a Premium membership does put you superficially near the top of the pile of applicants, but I can't honestly say if it makes a real difference. Just make sure that you keep your (free) profile up to date, with a presentable picture. There are a few other bells and whistles (like the Learning feature) in Premium that are nice but hardly necessary for a job seeker.As somebody who has done a fair bit of online job hunting, I've had much more success landing new jobs just applying via standard sites like Indeed and Glassdoor. In almost every single case managers and/or HR recruiters looked me up on LinkedIn after I've applied through a job site, not beforehand.What LinkedIn is really is a good place for recruiters to search for candidates, or look up applicants. In my opinion there is no real compelling reason for a job seeker to purchase a Premium membership as it stands now. LinkedIn is a fairly decent social networking site that does what it's intended to do.
